929 entries categorized "Language"

There are 7 billion people on earth and about 7000 languages, but more than half of the world's population speaks one of just 23 languages. This infographic, created by Alberto Lucas Lopéz for the South China Morning Post, shows the relative size of speaker population for all the languages that have over 50 million speakers (based on data from Ethnologue). It shows, quite strikingly, how giant the population of Chinese speakers is, compared to any of the other languages.

The most spoken language in any country is often obvious; usually, it’s the official language of the country. However, you can learn a lot about a country by analyzing its second most spoken language.

More than 60 million Americans speak a language at home other than English, of the majority of these Americans reported to the U.S. Census Bureau that they spoke English “very well.” Throughout the United States, Spanish is the most common second language; however, in states like Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, French is the most commonly spoken second language, a reflection of their individual state histories. To accommodate students who speak a language other than English at home, English as a second language (or ESL) programs have become more prevalent as essential school programs.

While many people would guess that English is the second most commonly spoken language in a majority of countries, that’s only true for some areas. For example, despite its proximity to North America, the only Central American countries to list English as their second most spoken language are Costa Rica and Panama. Similarly, in South America, Chile is the only country to have English as its second most spoken language, which just over 10% of the population claims to speak as a primary language. Throughout the rest of South America, regional indigenous languages are commonly the second most spoken, replacing English as a second language.

In Europe, a continent known for its diverse languages where people are often multilingual, the second most spoken language varies greatly among countries. From Gaelic to Catalan, Finnish to Slovak, and Hungarian to Belarusian, Europe boasts several different second most spoken languages, showcasing its cosmopolitan residents and their wide-ranging backgrounds.

In some countries, the second most spoken language is used predominantly by the educated classes and/or in major cities. For example, in Libya, English is the second most spoken language, and it is commonly understood among the educated classes. Similarly, in Jordan, English is the most commonly spoken second language and is widely understood among educated upper and middle class people.

Other countries use the second most commonly spoken language as a “lingua franca,” or a bridge language shared by persons who don’t share a native language. This often occurs when the lingua franca is a third language, separate from native languages, and these languages are commonly used for commercial, diplomatic, and administrative languages. For example, in Algeria, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Morocco, French is the second most spoken language, and it’s used by many as the lingua franca; in Pakistan, English is the lingua franca among educated classes.

Interestingly, the area of the world where English is the second most commonly spoken language is Asia, especially Southeast Asia. Countries such as Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, and India are becoming increasingly common, especially as speakers of various ethnic languages and dialect use English as a common language. Many schools in Japan and South Korea also teach English from a very early age, increasing its prevalence throughout the country.

As the world continues to become more connected thanks to technology, it becomes even more crucial to be able to understand each other. No matter where you are, even if you don’t speak the official language, there’s a high chance that you’ll be able to communicate with others using the second most spoken languages or a lingua franca.

Sharing your message in Spanish might help build Latino support for your presidential bid -- but it's no guarantee.

As the number of eligible Latino voters grows, candidates are paying more attention to the group, and many 2016 contenders have been promoting themselves in Spanish on the campaign trail. Those communications are important for the Spanish-dominant segment of voters, but, overall, candidates' positions on the issues are what Latinos will care about most on Election Day.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has been exercising his Spanish since entering the 2016 race in April. Rubio, who is bilingual, appeared on Spanish-language television multiple times just after declaring his run.

The son of Cuban immigrants even threw in a splash of Spanish during his campaign announcement speech.

And those moves can help spread his message. For Spanish-dominant voters, who tend to be first-generation immigrants, and for the Spanish media that caters to them, it's useful for candidates to make their views available in the language.

Reaching people in their native language is a lesson candidates can learn from businesses, said Jack Welde, CEO of Smartling, which helps companies manage translation for digital platforms.

"They want to reach customers, they want to reach voters, they want to reach people," he said, noting the similarities between businesses and candidates. He cited a 2006 survey by Common Sense Advisory that found 72 percent of consumers are more likely to buy a product from a website in their own language.

Rubio's 2016 website includes a link to a Spanish bio of him and his wife, though the portions detailing his stances on issues are available only in English.

Rubio's campaign communications director, Alex Conant, said in an email that "key parts" of the Rubio site are available in Spanish and noted, "We'll be doing more of that."

Of the declared 2016 candidates thus far, only Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Ben Carson have extensive Spanish-language versions of their websites.

But even President Barack Obama's re-election campaign -- which Fernand Amandi, principal at the polling and strategy firm Bendixen & Amandi International, recognized as having some of the best overall Latino outreach in the past -- didn't launch a Spanish-language website until late February 2012. Amandi noted that the Obama campaign spent the year leading up to that doing research on how to approach Latinos, but didn't really launch efforts aimed at those voters until the year of the election. Yet, Obama won with 71 percent of the Latino vote, according to exit polls.

"That almost created a new normal when it comes to targeting the Latino vote," Amandi said.

And for most voters, no matter their primary language, a candidate's position on the issues is the most important factor in whom they support.

"Hispanic voters aren't going to be voting for who speaks the best Spanish, they're going to be voting for ... the candidate who offers the best platform," Amandi said.

Immigration, health care, jobs and climate change are among the top concerns for most Latinos, noted Felipe Benitez of voter education group Mi Familia Vota.

Clinton's campaign launch video included a Latino speaking Spanish and talking about jobs, which Benitez said was "quite a nice surprise" because it addressed a topic beyond immigration.

Benitez said candidates need to connect with the many Latino communities in the U.S., which are segmented based on their countries of origin, generation and location. While first-generation immigrants might be Spanish-dominant and more likely to watch Spanish-language TV, many younger Latinos are active with technology and on social media.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is expected to enter the GOP 2016 race but hasn't officially declared yet, appears to be trying to court various segments of that audience. Bush is fluent in Spanish and his wife was born in Mexico. He has used Spanish in speeches and campaign ads, and he tweets in Spanish occasionally.

When he launched his Right to Rise PAC earlier this year (which has an accompanying Spanish version of its website), Bush announced it in both English and Spanish. At the end of April, he made a swing through Puerto Rico, where he often threw some Spanish into his speeches.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), on the other hand, has generally shied away from speaking Spanish in public appearances. The Hispanic senator and 2016 candidate has been described by an aide as being "conversational, though not fluent in Spanish." During his 2012 Senate run, Cruz argued against debating in Spanish, noting that "most Texans speak English."

His 2016 website doesn't include Spanish-language sections, but he did release a Spanish-language ad when he launched his campaign.

"We will have an aggressive Hispanic outreach effort and have staff that are spearheading it," Cruz campaign spokeswoman Catherine Frazier told McClatchy last month.

"I think the most important thing is to be authentic," Benitez said, noting that candidates' attempts to throw in a few lines of Spanish in debates can be counterproductive if they misspeak. "I'd rather have them talk with us even through a translator or do it in English than trying to dust off their Spanish and use it."

Benitez pointed to Clinton's recent town hall with young undocumented immigrants in Las Vegas as one of the types of interactions candidates should be having with the community.

"She set a very high bar for other candidates to follow," he said. "She not only met with the members of the community that are directly affected, but she obviously made this a priority in her campaign and hopefully in her presidency if she gets elected."

However, Sylvia Manzano, principal at the consulting firm Latino Decisions, isn't surprised by the meager outreach efforts she's seeing thus far, especially given the limited resources campaigns are dealing with when they first launch.

"There aren't that many Latino voters in the Republican primary, so if their focus is the primary, it makes sense for them to put that aside for now," Manzano said.

Data from the Pew Research Center indicates that the number of Hispanics speaking Spanish at home has risen from 10.2 million in 1980 to 24.7 million in 2000. Chinese, Korean, Arabic and many other languages are also growing in frequency.

“The growing diversity of American households is causing parents to debate on the benefits and detriments of raising their children to be bilingual” says Megan Riordan, speech-language pathologist at Loyola University Health System. “Many respectable medical professionals often suggest that parents refrain from speaking their native language to avoid confusing their child.”

Here are common questions asked by bilingual parents and the answers from Riordan.

Will learning two languages cause my child’s speech to be delayed?

“Currently, there is no evidence that suggests learning two languages causes speech delays,” says Riordan, who holds a bilingual English-Spanish certificate “A typically developing child should begin to produce first words by 1 year of age, put two words together at 1.5 to 2 years of age and have a vocabulary of 200 to 300 words by 2 years of age.” Research has shown that monolingual and bilingual children reach developmental milestones at similar ages.

How can parents and educators support a child’s bilingual language development?

Provide a language-rich environment in one or both languages,” says Riordan. “A language-rich environment consists of a setting with a lot of talking, a variety of vocabulary and correct grammar. Ways to create a language-rich environment include turning off the television, engaging in shared reading and getting out toys and playing!”

Riordan says that studies have supported environments that consist of one-parent, one-language. For example, the mother speaks Spanish to the child and the father speaks English. Studies have also supported one-language, one-place. For example, the child speaks Spanish at home, and English at school.

Will dual language learning make my child confused?

“No evidence indicates that learning two languages confuses children,” says Riordan. “About one-half of the earth’s population speaks more than one language.” Signs mistaken for confusion are often signs of learning. Both monolingual and bilingual children make mistakes as they acquire language. A bilingual child may make errors in both languages. They may mix the languages. It is simply an indication that the child is learning the languages.”

Will learning two languages cause my child to be less intelligent?

“Absolutely not! There are many advantages of being bilingual,” says Riordan. “Research has shown that bilingual children may learn new words more easily, pick up pre-reading skills faster, be more creative and be able to multi-task better than monolinguals. Some studies have also shown being bilingual may help fight against Alzheimer’s disease.”

Will reducing to one language improve my child’s chance for success?

“Reducing to one language can actually cause a handful of difficulties. Taking away one of the languages spoken at home or in the community may cause a child to feel isolated through lack of communication,” says Riordan. “Removing one of the languages may also prevent the child from partaking in a variety of personal and professional opportunities, such as travel, volunteer work, and eventually their careers.”

On-demand transportation company Uber now lets Los Angeles passengers decide if they want a bilingual driver who can speak Spanish.

The option, UberESPAÑOL, launched in L.A., Orange County and Chicago on Tuesday after an initial roll-out earlier this year in San Diego, Phoenix and Tucson. It comes at no extra cost to passengers, who can make the selection by pressing a button inside the Uber app indicating they want a driver who can speak Spanish.

The move caters to Southern California’s large Latino population and gives Uber a way to tap into a growing market.

"Latinos now account for over 53 million people in the United States and almost 40% of California,” said Ruben Guerra, chairman of Latin Business Assn. "With that tremendous growth comes a more prominent seat at the business table.”

Guerra described the launch of UberESPAÑOL as a “progressive approach” to providing members of the Latino community more opportunities to “conduct their business in the language in which they feel most comfortable.”

The Spanish language option is limited to UberX, which is Uber’s low-end service where drivers use their personal vehicles to transport passengers.

Being truly bilingual can give your child lasting advantages throughout life, but what's the best way to help a child properly learn two languages?

Some early childhood experts agree: the earlier you expose your child to more than one language, the better.

"That is when they develop what we call the 'bilingual brain,'" said Dr. Elena Izquierdo, with UTEP's College of Education.

I have been trying to figure out how to raise a bilingual baby, fearing the familiar tale of border kids who forget all the Spanish they learned once they head to school. That is why I had a "Spanish-only" policy with my 10-month-old baby Jael.

Izquierdo, a linguist who focuses on early childhood education, made me rethink that.

"If he's in a bilingual household, where he hears both English and Spanish, then the sounds in English and the sounds in Spanish become part of his inventory," said Izquierdo. "That's why children, when they are introduced to languages early on, don't have an accent, they have been practicing it for a long time and it becomes part of their inventory."

The Region 19 Head Start program has a different approach. Some of its educators teach a full week in English, then repeat the same lessons in Spanish the next week.

Teachers also alternate languages every day, but there is a strict rule: do not mix the languages.

"We need them to keep it pure," said Ramona Huffman, with Region 19. "When you mix the languages and children are just waiting for you to say it in their language, they'll tune you out."

Huffman says it is okay to introduce children to both languages, but says parents should not switch languages during the same conversation with their children.

"If you want a truly bilingual child, don't allow 'Spanglish,'" said Huffman. "If you're reading a story, if you're talking to them, have a designated time when it's just English or it's just Spanish. Children are not going to get confused."

I speak what's called "Social Spanish," basics I learned at home. I learned academic English in school, and even though I speak both, I have a hard time expressing more complex ideas in Spanish.

Experts say I can help Jael speak better Spanish by exposing him to more advanced vocabulary.

"It's going to take more than just the words," said Huffman. "You're going to have to use your whole body, your hands, possibly concrete objects, to show them what you're talking about."

Here are some research-backed guidelines to raise a bilingual child:

- Start early when they are infants.- Do not mix languages.- Encourage children to express themselves exclusively in one language per conversation.- Push yourself and your baby to speak beyond the basic, social way.- Strive for bigger words to express complex thoughts.

English fluency continues to spiral upward among Latinos, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis, with a record 33.2 million Hispanics in the U.S. now speaking English proficiently.

That paragraph does not convey my zeal and delight over an official organization validating what I've been saying for the past 20 years: Hispanics will assimilate like any other immigrant group to this nation.

Eventually, they will all speak English just as well as the Irish, Italian and German immigrants before them -- all of whom were feared and discriminated against because of their native languages or accents.

But English acquisition is always the easiest slam delivered ever-so-harshly to immigrants: ‘‘Learn the language.’’

Several years ago in the parking lot of a library that had recently added Spanish-language books and media one gentleman said to me, ‘‘We no speaky Spanish here.’’

I retorted, ‘‘I have a graduate degree and I don’t ‘speaky’ stupid.’’ The startled look on his face was priceless.

What most people can’t seem to grasp is that Hispanics have been making progress on this front for decades. In 2013, Pew reports, proficient English-speaking Hispanics made up 68 percent of all Hispanics ages 5 and older, up from 59 percent in 2000.

Pew also noted that the share of foreign-born Latinos who speak English proficiently hasn’t changed much since 1980, but it still looks OK: In 2013, 34 percent of foreign-born Latinos spoke English proficiently, compared with 1980, when the share was 31 percent and numbered 1.3 million.

But it wasn’t all good news.

In 2013, 73 percent of Latinos ages 5 and older said they still spoke Spanish at home, down from 78 percent who said the same in 2000. The percentage decline over 13 years is relatively small, but I would hate for Hispanics to become all-American in the sense that they’re increasingly monolingual.

Due to my sons’ severe complications at birth, and some worrisome developmental delays, doctors advised me to stick to one language at home. That, and the ease of establishing a home language in a family where daddy doesn’t speak Spanish, means my kids -- to my great dismay -- are monolingual.

Spanish classes and efforts at immersion have failed to make a difference, but I still goad them about it at every turn.

Imagine my delight last weekend, as we were binge-watching Netflix’s ‘‘Daredevil’’ series together, when I got to say: ‘‘See? See! Look at that -- the Daredevil and Claire Temple speak perfect Spanish, Senor Foggy and his secretarial sidekick speak some decent-enough Spanish, Kingpin Wilson Fisk speaks Mandarin and Japanese, and the Kingpin’s assistant speaks at least those and Russian!’’

In Episode 8: The teeny-tiny but terrifyingly evil old Madame Gao is asked by her nemesis how many languages she speaks. In deadpan, but with a dash of smugness, she purrs: ‘‘All of them.’’

I literally cheered, to the great annoyance of my two sons, who begged me not to leap into yet another diatribe on how they could be healthier, wealthier and wiser if they'd just learn another language. Any other language.

In a globalized, interconnected world, who can afford to go at it with just one?

If a set of comic book heroes dating back to the mid-1960s can bring the message of the importance of speaking multiple tongues, perhaps that’s a start.

If I could do it all over again, I'd ignore the advice of the doctors and the developmental specialists and insist on a bilingual home. An extra year of them not talking would have been worth a lifetime of conversing with whole other parts of the world.

A new partnership between Pelican Point Media, LLC and Texican Media, LLC aims to capitalize on the burgeoning bilingual English & Spanish ‘crossover’ market by financing and distributing films with mainstream appeal and a focus on the Latino community.

The management team will include co-founders Ike Suri, Javier Chapa and Labid Aziz. Chapa will lead Mucho’s creative team – and is just coming off his recent production of AZTEC WARRIOR starring Luis Guzman and Eugenio Derbez distributed by Pantelion/Lionsgate Films.

“In a landscape where Latinos represent a significant amount of box office sales, we have a unique opportunity,” Chapa said. “We are committed to create compelling content which speaks to this audience.”

Labid Aziz will take a lead role in overseeing Mucho’s day-to-day business and strategy leveraging his 20 years of media experience as a Content Producer and Executive. “With our core team and partners, we will be a one-stop shop for financing, producing, marketing and distributing Latino projects in the $2,500,000 budget range and below,” he said. “Outside of our own projects, we are also looking to distribute finished films by and for Latinos.”

Ike Suri is the co-founder and co-CEO of Pelican Point Capital Partners, LLC., parent of Pelican Point Media, which is a boutique merchant bank with several investment and operating focus areas including film production and finance. Ike and the partners at Pelican Point Capital have backgrounds in finance, investing, strategy and business development across consumer finance, real estate and mortgage finance, media, telecom, tech, asset management and hospitality to name a few.

Mucho has slated its first couple of projects, which will go into production this year focusing primarily on high-concept comedies and thriller/horror films.

A record 33.2 million Hispanics in the U.S. speak English proficiently, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. In 2013, this group made up 68% of all Hispanics ages 5 and older, up from 59% in 2000.

At the same time that the share of Latinos who speak English proficiently is growing, the share that speaks Spanish at home has been declining over the last 13 years. In 2013, 73% of Latinos ages 5 and older said they speak Spanish at home, down from 78% who said the same in 2000. Despite this decline, a record 35.8 million Hispanics speak Spanish at home, a number that has continued to increase as the nation’s Hispanic population has grown.

These shifts coincide with the rise of U.S.-born Hispanics as a share of the nation’s Hispanic population and the slowdown in immigration to the U.S. from Latin America.

Fully 89% of U.S.-born Latinos spoke English proficiently in 2013, up from 72% in 1980. This gain is due in part to the growing share of U.S.-born Latinos who live in households where only English is spoken. In 2013, 40% of U.S.-born Latinos, or 12 million people, lived in these households, up from 32% who did so in 1980. The gain in English proficiency is also due to the rising share of U.S.-born Latinos who live in households where Spanish (or another non-English language) is spoken, and who say they speak English “very well.” Half (49%) of U.S.-born Latinos say this, numbering 14.7 million, up from 40% who said the same in 1980.

By contrast, the share of foreign-born Latinos who speak English proficiently is little changed since 1980, even though the number that is English-proficient has grown. In 2013, 34% of foreign-born Latinos spoke English proficiently, numbering 6.5 million. In 1980, that share was 31% and numbered 1.3 million.

It can be hard enough to understand everything doctors tell you, even when they speak your language. For limited or non-English speakers, language can be a barrier to good care.

Federal and State laws require translation or some accommodation for limited English speakers. But people have uneven experiences communicating with health care providers.

Jaime Pena-Urina gets cognitive and physical therapy at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. He’s still recovering from head trauma from a bike accident more than a month ago. With his Spanish translator in the room his care becomes a team effort.

"Estoy cansado," says Pena-Urina in Spanish, when a physical therapist says she is going to work with him on his balance.

“I’m tired,” his interpreter translates, so his physical therapist can understand.

Pena-Urina’s wife Felicitas says she’s happy with the services and the medical translation at the hospital.

"They come and explain what the doctors need to tell me,” she says. “The service is really good."

Hospitals and health insurers are required under state law to make interpretation available. Federal and California laws require limited English speakers to have "meaningful access" at doctors’ offices. But the experience of Spanish speakers at health facilities in California is not uniform.

At the Mexican Consulate in Sacramento, Isabel Flores runs the Ventanilla de Salud, a program that refers about a hundred people a month to regional health care.

"Sometimes just making the initial appointment can be a challenge," says Flores.

She says the clinics to which she refers people have Spanish speakers. But when she checks back in with patients after a doctor’s visit, it’s hard to tell how much they’ve comprehended.

"Partially [the lack of comprehension] could be a language barrier, and the other part could be medical terminology," Flores says.

"We go to the doctors and we say, 'What does this mean exactly?' We know how to ask those questions. Sometimes, [non-English speakers] could be intimidated. They don’t know that they can ask those questions, or they’re blanking out on the spot.”

Twenty-year old Maria Medina says sometimes people at clinics speak Spanish, sometimes they don’t. She translates for her husband and that can be uncomfortable.

"We’re a couple, so I’m not embarrassed," says Solis in Spanish. "She’s my wife. If it were another person, maybe I would be."

Blanca Valdez is outside the Ventanilla De Salud in the Mexican Consulate, looking at brochures. She has been in the country for about 11 years. She says she hasn’t had any luck getting Spanish-speaking providers.

"It would great if the doctors spoke Spanish, but I know that in the United States English is the language," says Valdez in Spanish. “So I can’t say ‘Oh, why don’t they speak my language?’”

Valdez sometimes has her kids translate for her. But she says the doctor may explain a lot, and her kids will only tell her two or three things.

Using relatives to interpret, although not ideal, can sometimes help people get care more quickly, according to Dr. David Hayes-Bautista, Director of the Center for Latino Health and Culture at UCLA’s School of Medicine.

"An interpreter is better than none, but the best is language concordance," says Hayes-Bautista.

Hayes-Bautista says lack of resources can limit patient access. Sometimes, a Spanish-speaking clinic worker may be pulled into translate, but won't have medical training. Or, a translator might be brought in by phone. Neither solution serves the patient well.

"It increases the chances for medical error, for the patient not understanding things, for the provider not understanding things," he says. "It restricts the flow of information."

He says the larger problem is a shortage of Latino physicians in California. Some things can be done about that – training more Latino or Spanish speaking medical students or bringing in more Mexican or Latin American doctors.